Ascent of Mesa Leon on 2011-06-04

Ascent Trip Report

I followed Jack Shiver's excellent directions from I-40 to the spot SW of Mesa Leon where the road turns right and a track heads north. I followed this north for 1.5 mi. and then turned right on a slightly rougher track. Apparently there used to be a gate here but there is no longer. One mile east I did ran into a gate that was chained but the lock was open. I considered driving on, but I was worried someone working inside might lock up in my absence, and my GPS told me I was only 0.71 mi. from the high point. So, I parked and headed along my GPS heading. That did go up one of the steeper parts of the mesa, a more challenging scramble than it had appeared to be from my parking spot--some places basically class 3. But the ascent only took half an hour, and I hadn't had any exercise yet today. On the way down, however, I circled slightly to the east for a less steep descent. I did not find the cairn on top others have mentioned.